The second lecture of the 2024 Hosmer-Williams Lecture Series was presented on Thursday, April 18 at 7 in the evening in Farley’s Music Hall, 37 Mill Street, Elsah, Illinois.
The lecture, Chautauqua: An American Icon was given by Tim Tomlinson, a past president of Historic Elsah Foundation and the Chautauqua Historical Society. Tomlinson has lectured locally and nationally on the topic of Chautauqua as an American social and cultural movement. He is the author of The Western Chautauqua: A History of New Piasa Chautauqua.
This year, 2024, is the 150th anniversary of the founding of the “Mother Chautauqua” in western New York State. The local Great River Road Chautauqua, a “sister Chautauqua” founded in 1885, will be conducting its 139th season. Tomlinson’s lecture will define the Chautauqua Movement for historic and contemporary context, looking for ideas that explain a continued relevance in a sesquicentennial year.
The Hosmer-Williams Lecture Series is a major contribution of Historic Elsah Foundation to the understanding of local history. The Series is underwritten, in part, by Liberty Bank of Alton, Illinois, by Federal Steel of East Alton, Il, by anonymous donors, and by the membership of Historic Elsah Foundation.
To view the lecture recording, watch below: